6A — Thursday, November 5, 2015
Sports
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
‘M’ regroups; Defense coming together
Four of six
freshmen making
transition from
USHL to college
By MINH DOAN
Daily Sports Editor
With four top defensemen
returning
from
last
season
— juniors Michael Downing
and
Nolan
De Jong and
sophomores
Zach
Werenski
and
Cutler
Martin — plus the addition
of a highly touted freshman
class,
there
was
no
doubt
that Michigan hockey team’s
defensive corps would be much
improved in 2015-16.
Downing, though, is convinced
the unit could be better than just
good. It could be great.
“We talk about it all the time,”
Downing said. “This is a good
year for the defense, probably
one of the best defensive classes
since Jon Merrill, Travis Lynch,
Luke Moffatt and Mac Bennett
were all here.”
But after giving up 20 goals in
six games to start the season, the
defense is off to a slow start.
The blueliners, though, aren’t
the only ones shouldering blame.
“It’s team defense,” Downing
said. “It’s not just (the defense).
There’s certain plays that we need
to fix. Maybe (a forward) needs
to come back, or (a goaltender)
needs to make a save.”
And with a tough trip to
Boston University looming in
two weeks, the Wolverines will
need to shore up their defense
if they want to
leave the East
Coast with two
wins.
BYE
WEEK:
With 12 days
between
games,
Michigan has
a
chance
to
regroup
this
week and work
on specific areas to help shore up
its game.
The
defensemen
want
to
improve puck movement and
schemes in the defensive zone.
“The coaches told us we need
to work on some things after
practice,” Downing said. “For
me, a lot of the stuff that I want
to
work
on,
especially with
(Werenski), is
in the D-zone.
We’re going to
be out there
against teams’
top lines, and
last game, we
went
minus-
3,
which
is
unacceptable
for both of us.”
As for the forwards, Michigan
coach Red Berenson wanted
to see an improvement in the
faceoff circle. Berenson said
he wanted to see the centers
practice 150 faceoffs during the
bye week.
“It’s kind of a thing to stress
to all of the centers, to tell
everyone to collectively work
on our faceoffs,” said freshman
forward Cooper Marody. “It’s
very important to our game, and
we want to be better.”
USHL VS. MICHIGAN: For
many players, college hockey
is a tough transition. Many
players choose to play in the
United States Hockey League
beforehand, and many think
college
hockey
is
the
next
natural stepping stone toward
the professional leagues.
Of the six freshmen, four
players — Marody, forward Kyle
Connor,
defenseman
Joseph
Cecconi and goaltender Chad
Catt — played in the USHL, and
there is a clear distinction in
play.
“Players think at a higher
level,” Marody said. “But on the
other hand, guys are bigger and
faster. It’s the same kind of game
as you move up in levels. It just
gets a little big stronger, a little
bit quicker. So you just have
to adapt to the speed and the
strength.”
But that doesn’t mean playing
college hockey lacks perks.
“When you get the opportunity
to play (college hockey), it’s
definitely a lot different flying
on planes than being on a bus
to get to places,” Marody said.
“We have it pretty good here
compared to the USHL.”
ICE HOCKEY
“We have it
pretty good
here compared
to the USHL.”
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